Challenge Day 5- Sponge Paint

It looks like I will be writing each days blog the day after. I fell asleep again last night, while watching TV...

I'm quickly learning that taking on this challenge and wanting to do all of the stuff I see online very challenging, on a military budget. There is SO much I want to do with them, but we just DO NOT have the supplies, nor the money to get them. I will just be buying a little bit with each pay check, the way any military family buys anything.

I'm also less enthused about this, than I was on day 1 and 2. NOT that I don't love playing with them. I've REALLY been enjoying it. But trying to think of invitations with supplies we have has proven... challenging. I know once I'm more used to this, I'll start thinking outside the box more. But as of now, I'm a little frustrated. Yesterday I was at a complete loss of an idea we hadn't already done. I was also lacking motivation to figure one out. I resorted to hand painting after seeing a project on Pinterest.

Jeremiah's Shamrock

So, I whipped out the paint and we got started. I should have known that Bella would not be down for the activity I had planned. It involved painting their hands and making Shamrocks. Then they could just finger paint.

Your Majesty demanded brushes of some sort. So, I ran down stairs and grabbed the sponges from mini paint rollers. (You know, the ones for edging?)

Those worked. She was ready to play. Phew! They giggled and played and smeared paint everywhere.

The mess no longer bothers me. Which is AWESOME! I'll be the first one to tell you I'm not a great housekeeper. They're is always stuff EVERYWHERE. But it's generally not DIRTY. Just messy and cluttered. So allowing them to get things dirty was a big step for me. Allowing them to be kids and make more work for me was a huge surrender of control. As I sit here writing this, I hear Bella dumping out colored water all over the light table and splashing in it. It makes me cringe. But, it will be cleaned up in like 3 minutes, once they're done with today's invitation. So, I let it go.

sponge painting

They're having fun and I'm learning to let the little things go and have FUN with them! I cannot wait to write about today's invitation, tomorrow! Get out there and Let Them PLAY!

Challenge Day 4- Neon Bath

I'm writing this post on the morning of Day 5, because I fell asleep at 9 o'clock last night, watching The Biggest Loser. Apparently I was tired.

Anyways... I wouldn't call yesterday a bust... but It wasn't anything terribly exciting. At least not during the day. I woke up tired and cranky as always and for the life of me could not think of a new activity I had the supplies for on hand. I'll insert here that I have spent the last 5 years keeping messy anything out of my house, as well as any small trinket toys. Well, now that comes back to bite me. lol I've ordered a bunch of things on Amazon and am not so patiently awaiting their arrival to have more fun with the kiddos.

That being said, I HAD to go to the grocery store. Daddy ate the last can of tuna for lunch and the kids had spaghetti. I had cheese and crackers. We were desperately in need of a grocery trip. So, I spent most of the day meal planning b/c I'd been to distracted playing the last few days, to even think about it. The kids were still enthralled with the light table in general, so they played with it all morning.

That's one cute baby!

 Mia and I packed up and headed to the grocery while the older two "napped". Ha Ha. Yea... Right.

 The grocery trip was successful and fun with my sweet girl.

I return home to get dinner started and work on our evening "invitation". (This is a term from Play At Home Mom that I will be using a lot. Click the link, right ^ there, for an explanation.)

 (I'm going to ask you in advance to forgive the HORRIBLE picture quality in these first few blog posts. All the pictures are taken with our cell phones, because I seem to have lost my SD card for my good camera.)

I had purchased a mess ton of glow sticks from Target when I was there. I had seen a glow stick balloon  idea on PAHM the other day and decided to take a cue from that.

While the kids were eating, I went a filled up the tub and cracked about 20 glow sticks. I hung some up, sat some on the edge of the tub and put some in the bottom of the tub. OK, I must say... by then end of this... Donny and I wanted to get into the tub!

Mia is in bed, all tuckered out from the shopping trip and the kids finish up eating. They get undressed and patiently wait outside the bathroom door for their bath. I open the door....

Cool, right!?

They gasp and screech and Jey is jumping up and down. He excitedly climbs into the tub followed by a semi-hesitant Bella. They both get in and it's game on. They're splashing and trading the bracelets, until they get the colors they want. Bell ends up with the purples and blues and Jey with the yellows and greens.

They were amazed at how when the glow sticks went under the water, the whole tub lit up. They played for probably 30 or 45 minutes before I head Bella's monstrous foot steps through the house like a single woman stampede. Then we here laughing and "I'm so COLD!". They come running into the living room. Jey is wrapped in a towel and Bell is dragging her towel behind her. She is surprisingly dry.

We get them dressed for bed and do their bedtime routine. We tuck them in, with their new glow bracelets of course. We explain they will no longer work by morning but they can play in their rooms while they're still glowing, if they would like. They both choose to do so. They finally tucker out and go to sleep. I promptly followed while watching The Biggest Loser.

Ah well. Another fun day :)

Challenge Day 3- Light Table

The morning started out a little blah. I woke up to a naked toddler and screeching (playing) children. They also woke the baby up. Again. The hubbs woke up with a headache for the second day in a row. As I lay on the couch while the kids eat breakfast, I consider making a pot of coffee. Mind you, I drink coffee daily. I was just too lazy to get up and make it. I also did not particularly feel like deciding on an activity for the kids. It's much easier to be a lazy parent. LOL I finally muster the energy and put on some coffee and put on my thinking cap for the kiddos.

Well, they LOVED painting yesterday... But, I didn't want to do the same activities over and over. I bought shaving cream last night to make the bath time paint I'd seen on Play At Home Mom's blog. (I think) AH HA! I got it. I mixed shaving cream with food coloring and put a dollop on each kids plate of each color. I then sat up TV trays for them to paint ON. My thinking was... Lot's of fun + clean trays + clean hands when done = WIN!

Jey was puzzled to why there was no paper, but did not take long to dive right in. "Oh it's soft!" and "Oh it smells sweet!" and "IT'S SO SQUISHY!" promptly took over the conversation. Bella, on the other hand, put ONE finger into the concoction and FREAKED out. She once again, demanded to wash her hands. She then went and grabbed some plastic utensils and started poking around inquisitively. A few minutes later she runs and grabs a 'baby'. Apparently, it is the 'baby's' birthday and this is her cake. Don't you love the randomness of kids? It was absolutely adorable.

Jeremiah at this point has now mixed all the colors together and is staring at a nasty brown-ish color. While not happy about the color, he is enjoying the texture. Isabella got paint on her hands a few more times and washed them again. After about an hour, Jey finally decided he was done. He got up to the kitchen sink and scrubbed the brown goo off his hands and used soap to get off any remaining color. He then proceeded to make him and Bell peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Bell finished hers by putting on the jelly, "By me-self!". Well, she did... and she ate it all! She must have been hungry staring at that "birthday cake" all morning.

We then all cuddled on the couch and turned on a movie while we were waiting for the baby to wake up so I could take Mia and Jey to the store. We were going to get things for the 'light table", but Jeremiah did not know that.

The baby FINALLY woke up. (Longest nap ever!) And we got ready to go. Bell was to stay at home with Daddy and play and help him tidy up. We got dressed and bundled up to brave the cold and got going.

We get to Target and Jey flips. He LOVES Target. We spend so much time looking at every interesting thing and talking about them and how much they cost vs. how much something else costs. He's having a ball. We get done at Target and it's time to go to Lowe's and get 'light table' supplies. We grab some fluorescent lights and plexiglas and head home.

We get home and eat dinner and Daddy and I get to work on the table. The kids are all running around excited because we're building something. We finally get done about a half hour before bedtime. The kids are in AWE. They look at the table. They touch it, poke it, and then squeal with delight. They see all the little stickies and do-dads I've placed on the table, just to show them the table, and they love it. They play until an hour past bed time. We sit and talk about the colors and letters and textures. This is going to be a huge hit in this house. I'm so excited!

Day 3 down... I'm enjoying it more each day!

Challenge Day 2- Daddy's Birthday

Today is my husband's 26th Birthday. Happy Birthday, My Love!

When the kids woke up, I told them it was Daddy's birthday. The questions started and so did the excitement. Can we make him a present? Can we make a cake? When can we EAT the cake? Can we play with the Cloud Dough again?!

Yes, dear children, you CAN finger paint until Daddy wakes up. And I mean REAL finger painting. The messy kind. I put on my big girl pants and whipped out the paint. Jeremiah was rather hesitant about getting messy. "No Bell, we can't get dirty." Bella, REFUSED to get dirty. She put one finger in the paint and demanded to wash her hands. She then requested a paint brush. What a priss. Jey's finger painting turned into hand slathering. Which, I completely expected. He made pictures and hand prints and tried to get Bell to get messy too. She was having none of it.

At this time, the baby (Amelia (1yr)) was sitting across the table nomming up her baby cracker things and slapping the ziplock bags with paint. She was thoroughly enjoying herself as well. 

The older two decided they were done and wanted to color. We washed up and cleaned up and out came the construction paper and crayons. Jeremiah wrote "Happy Birthday Dad. I luv you", at LEAST a dozen times. Every time he would get frustrated and say "It wasn't good enough to give to Daddy". He would give the paper to Bella, who now is not coloring but cutting up all of the construction paper she can find.

It was time to wake Daddy up. Mia and I went into the bedroom and woke Daddy and told him Happy Birthday.  Daddy stumbles out of the bedroom as the kids squeal with delight and shout "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!" A smile sweeps across my husband's face and he says thank you and hugs each child good morning. I go into the kitchen and make the Hubbs his favorite egg sandwich in my new cast iron pan that a dear friend has just sent me. It's fantastical! I put a little too much cheese on the sandwich, so it ended up being egg flavored grilled cheese. Ah well, he gobbled it down and said it was delicious.

Jeremiah now gives Daddy his card and the kids sing Happy Birthday. They insist he have a candle to blow out. I light a small Yankee candle while we sing and he blows it out at the end. The kiddos cheer and clap. "NOW can we make cake?!" Jey exclaimed.

"Can we show Daddy our cloud dough?" soon followed. Why, yes. Of course you can babies. We did the set up and they went to town. Daddy and I even got down there and made "sand castles" with them. (Mia is asleep when we play with the cloud dough as of now) The 'dough' quickly over takes the tarp and the sand is everywhere. Bell is running all over the house with flour foot prints left behind. There is now snowball fights and rain happening in the dining room. They are covered head to toe. It's caked int their scalps. Another bath it is.

We decide to wrap it up when Bella starts melting down. She's awful tired from all of the excitement. We bathe the kids and the baby wakes up from her nap. We try to lay Bella down, but she's having none of it. Jey makes himself a sandwich and colors some more. Jey and Mia are playing on the rug while Daddy is catching up on some basketball and I sit here on the computer. Daddy is now taking a much envied birthday nap as the kids get their small amount of TV time for the day. They have chosen to play Mario on the Wii.

The day is young and we still have some cake making to do. Possibly finger paint and playdough making as well!

Challenge Day 1

I started Day 1 rather timid, yet excited, about the whole process. I saw a finger painting in a gallon ziplock bag idea on Pinterest. I decided that was a good place to start. The general idea is to put paint into a ziplock bag, suck the air out, tape it to the table and let them doodle on it. GENIUS! They were intrigued for all of 10 minutes. But hey! It was a start. Later in the day I decided to make Cloud Dough.

Bella, my 2.5yo, excitedly helped me mix the concoction. Jey, my 5yo, had a smile from ear to ear when he realized he had free reign of this stuff. Then it was game on. I laid a plastic sheet on the floor and took the kids shirts off and let them go. I did not realize the play my kids were craving. They. Went. NUTS! They were squealing and giggling. They played for two hours, until finally at 1pm, I wrapped up the activity so we could have lunch. Baths were DEFINITELY needed before lunch time... So, off to the bathroom we went. They took a bath together for the first time in a while. I decided to allow the play to continue. They made a wreck of the bathroom. Water EVERYWHERE! I lost my temper, and then realized... It was a whole 1 towel and 2 minute clean up... And they had a blast doing it. Eh, ok, go for it.

I asked them what they wanted for lunch. They chose PB&J. I soon realized, I had sent Daddy to work with the peanut butter. Jelly sandwiches it is! The kids grabbed their chairs and pulled them to the counter. They were making their lunches for the very first time. They grabbed their bread and knives and went to town with the jelly. Bella chose to make a half of a sandwich, which she ate one bite of, and then refused. Typical, for her. Jey chose a half sandwich as well. Only afterwards, he made another half, and then ate Bella's half.

We made dinner and ate and got ready for bed and for Daddy to return home. Overall, I consider it a successful day! We had fun and I'm learning to let go of the messes and let them PLAY!

30 day PLAY Challenge

I started the blog to keep myself accountable to the challenge I have set for myself. Inspired by Plat At Home Mom, I have challenged myself to play with and engage my children, every day for 30 days. I do not intend to stop after day 30, I'm simply hoping by then it will be second nature and play will be a normal part of our everyday lives.

I've always looked at the mothers who enjoyed playing with their children, and wished I was like that. Over the years, I've simply accepted that I am NOT one of those mothers. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my children, but I've never been one to love playing Candy Land 18 times, or coloring for hours. I've been a "go play with your toys/siblings" mother. Then it dawned on me while reading Play At Home Mom's blog.... The only reason I'm NOT "one of those moms", is because I've chosen not to be.  Well, the buck stops here. I'm holding myself accountable to be a better mother.

For a couple years now, I've known I would homeschool. Besides the fact that I know my children better than any teacher ever could, or that I can give them more personalized attention than any school, or that I can put God into their daily curriculum... We're a military family. We move A LOT. So, homeschooling was the logical solution. But, I quickly tired of making lapbooks and handwriting and reading lessons. While we WILL still do a curriculum, it won't be as structured as I had originally planned. We are not a structured or scheduled family. So WHY did I think our homeschooling would be?

This is where Play At Home Mom comes into play. I will not only use a curriculum for my children, I will let them learn and explore through play. They will learn to explore things, question things, problem solve, and use logic and deductive reasoning as a part of their learning process. This will also allow them to be independent and confident in themselves, which are two wonderful traits ALL children need.

This being said, wish me luck! I'm rather short tempered and easily annoyed. My children screech like pterodactyls all day long. My ears are normally bleeding by 10am. They wake up the baby, the argue, and they whine (BOY! Do they whine!).  But, they are wonderful, loving, caring, sympathetic, and curious children. God made them that way, so who am I to try to smother those qualities? I will embrace them, the best I can, and guide them in harnessing those traits to become enriched, intelligent, selfless, followers of Christ.

HERE WE GO!